Stocking.



R. W. SCOTT.

v STOCKING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8.1916. 1' 205 671. Patented Nov. 21, 1916.

9 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. mwml,

R. W. SCOTT. STOCKING. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8.15MB.

Patented Nov. 21,1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MBOBERT W. SCOTT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SCOTT EIWILLIAMS,

' INCORPORATED, or CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY.

s'rooxine.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1916.

Application filed June 8, 1916. Serial No. 102,442.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT W. Soon, a citizen of the United States, residing in Boston, Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Stockings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the production of that type of stocking having what is known as a high spliced heel, that is to say, one in which the thickening of the web by the introduction of splicing yarn is carried above the heel portion of the stocking into the rear portion of the ankle web.

The object of my invention is to so form the spliced portion of said ankle web as to overcome certain objections to the present method of splicing. This object I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is an outline view of a stocking made in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a View of the rear portion of the leg and ankle web of the blank from which the stocking is made; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the stocking leg made from said blank, and Fig. 4: is a representation of the needles of a circular knitting machine upon which to produce the web shown in Fig. 1.

In the ordinary method of ankle splicing, the splicing yarn is applied during roundand-round knitting to the needles which form the rear portion of the ankle web and isfioated across from one of the front edges of the reinforced area to the other, these floating threads being subsequently trimmed Off.- This method results in the formation of a fringe of cut yarn at each of the forward edges'of the spliced area and in the better class of stockings, which are composed of fine yarn producing a thin or sheer web, these fringes, while disposed on the inner side of the web, are distinctly visible from the outside of the same and hence materially detract from the appearance of the ankle portion of the stocking. This objection I overcome.

In producing the blank shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, round-and-round knitting upon all of the needles of the machine is continued for a suflicient length of time to produce the tubular web a for the upper portion of the leg of'the stocking. In the production ofithe calf portion b of the web round-and-round knitting is still continued active needles in the segment 00. In 'p Fig. 2.

tion, first one or more needles on one'side-ofthe center and then one or more needles on the other side of the same uiitil the full segment of needles has been retired. During this time the knitting threads float, as shown at cin Fig. 2, across the gradually widening gap between the edges (Z(Z of the web. During the knitting of the upper ankle portion e of the web round-and-round knitting is continued upon all of the needles except those in the segment w, the threads floating, as shown at f in Fig. 1, across the gap between the edges gg of this portion of the web, this gap corresponding to the nonroducing the lower or spliced portion ii. of the ankle web, however, reciprocating knitting is resorted to, the gap represented by the non-active needles of the segment as being wide enough to receive the knitting cams and hence permit such resort to reciprocating knitting. The opposite edges 6-4 of this portion of the ankle web, therefore, are selvaged, and in splicing said web I use a separate splicing yarn for each side of the web, each splicing yarn producing a spliced area m. on its respective side, as shown in To produce these spliced areas, splicing yarn is fed by one yarn guide to the needles comprising theseginent y at one end of the active set employed in recipro eating knitting and by another yarn guide to the needles comprising the segment y at the other end of said active set, each splicing yarn guide being so constructed as to be readily thrown into and out of feeding position.

The splicing yarn guide which cooperates with the needles-y is thrown into feeding position at the needle to when the said guide and the needle actuating cams are reciprocating in the direction of the arrow .2, Fig. 4, and it feeds splicing yarn to all of the needles from w to w. ()n the reverse reciprocation in the direction of the arrow 2 the splicing yarn is fed to the needles from 'w' to w and its guide is then-withdrawn from feeding position but still continues to deliver yarn over the tops of the needles until the limit of reciprocation in that, direction is reached. On the return movement the take-up device employed in connection with the yarn guide takes up the slack yarn until the guide again reaches needle 10, whereupon said guide is again thrown intofeeding position andthe operations before described are repeated. The other splicing yarn guide acts in the same manner in respect to the needles of the segment 3 commencing to feed its yarn at the needle a, feeding it to all of the needles from 'v to 'v' and then back to the needle v again. As a consequence of this method of operation the webs formed by the splicing yarns are selvaged at each edge, as shown, respec tively, at n and n in Figs. 2 and 3. In order to complete the leg of the stocking the opposite edges d, g and i are united by a seam is, as shown in Fig. 2, the floating threads 0 and f being removed either before, during, or after such operation.

There are, in my stocking, no fringes at the front edges of the splicing webs 'to mar the appearance of the stocking, and although the method of manufacture which I have described also produces selvage edges at the rear of the splicing webs, the latter are negligible, since, if fringes due to floating threads were present at these edges, they would be caught up by the seam is as at the edges 01 and g.

As an incidental advantage of my invention, I may note the saving of yarn due to the fact that in my stocking there are no floating threads connecting the spliced areas, and which would have to be subsequently trimmed off as waste.

Before finishing the knitting of the ankle web a course 8 of long or setting-11p stitches is produced and beyond the same a short length of web t (spliced or unspliced as desired) to serve as a handling web whereby the setting-up course can be transferred to the needles of a separate machine for the formation of the seamless foot of the stocking, shown at A in Fig. 1, such foot being by preferenceprovided with seamless heel and toe pockets B and C. When, however, the foot is produced as in accordance with.my Letters Patent No. 864,432, dated August 27th, 1907, the formation of the setting-up course and handling web is unnecessary.

If desired, selvage edges may be produced upon the ortion e of the ankle web but it is prefera le to produce this portion of the ankle web by round-and-round knitting with floating threads f because of the greater speed of production which is possible when this method of knitting is adopted.

The novelty in my ,invention resides mainly in the method of forming the spliced areas in the lower portion of the rear of the ankle web, and the fabrication of the other portions of the stocking may therefore be varied as desired.

The knitting operation, for, instance, may start at the toe and terminate at the top of the leg, and the calf portion of the leg web may be shaped by widening instead of by narrowing, or other changes which would suggest themselves to those skilled in the art may be adopted without affecting that portion of the operation which constitutes my invention.

I claim:

1. A stocking having a seamless tubular leg and at the rear of the ankle web a seam uniting edges of a gap in the web, which edges are selvaged throughout a portion of their extent, said ankle web also having, on each side of said seam, a spliced area whose splicing web presents-selvaged front edges, the rear edges of said splicing webs being also united by said seam.

2. A stoekin having a seamless tubular leg and at the rear of the ankle web a seam 'uniting edges of a gap in the web, which edges are salvaged throughout a portion of their extent, said ankle web also having, on each side of said seam, a spliced area whose splicing web presents selvaged edges both at front and rear, the rear edges of said splicing webs being also united by said seam.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, ROBERT W. SCOTT.

Witnesses:

WALTER L. ToY, MINNIE BROWN. 

